


How The Mind Can Play Tricks On You

by Swashbuckler



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Banter, Comfort, Crying, F/M, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Gentleness, Hurt/Comfort, Married Couple, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Panic, Sick Character, Star Wars References, Tears, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 09:51:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12628359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swashbuckler/pseuds/Swashbuckler
Summary: Nightmares are no one's friend, not even a Trickster's.





	How The Mind Can Play Tricks On You

Mindy cracked open one eyes and squinted at the clock her bedside cabinet. 2:36am. She groaned and shut her eyes quickly. _No thank you._ Rolling over, she wriggled further into the centre of the bed and reached out toward where her husband lay beside her.

Or at least, toward where her husband should have been beside her. 

Frowning, Mindy pulled her hand from the warm, damp patch of sheet on James’ side of the bed. “James?” she croaked in the dark, raising herself up on one elbow as she squinted around the dark room. Rolling back onto her side and groping for her glasses on the bedside table, she settled for fumbling with the lamp until the black room turned yellow, then managed to spot her glasses shining on the table beside her. Just as she pushed them on and gave the empty space of bed a confused look, a gut-wrenching sound was pulled from across the hall.

“James?” Mindy was up out of bed in an instant, stumbling toward the light spilling out from under the bathroom. She gave a quick, quiet knock to the door before pushing it open. 

James was on his knees on the bathroom tiles, huddled over the toilet and shivering. Mindy gently touched his bare shoulder, only to jump as he did, flinching away from her. Quick, gasped breaths settled into a long sigh as James focused on his wife.

“Mindy,” he breathed, screwing up his eyes and grinding the heels of his palms into them. 

“James, what’s wrong?” Mindy asked tiredly, rubbing a hand across his sweaty back as she cautiously peered into the toilet, only to quickly pull back with wince.

James grimaced, head lolling back as he peered up at her through his lashes.“Might’ve been a little bit sick,” James said quietly with a copy of his usual cheeky smile.

“‘A little bit’,” Mindy repeated skeptically. 

“Mmhmm,” James agreed, hissing as he eased himself up on shaking knees to lean further over the toilet, head in his hands.

“Was dinner laying on your stomach or-?” Mindy paused, freezing as James burped, expecting the worst. When nothing happened, she relaxed and James shook his head.

“No, I- uh-” James started, addressing the toilet bowl and scratching his sweaty mess of hair. “Might’ve just had a bad dream, that’s all.”

“Bad dream?” Mindy asked, crouching down to kneel beside her husband on the cold bathroom floor as she rubbed her hand in little circles down his back. 

“Mom? Dad?” came a groggy voice from beneath tousled mop of black hair in the bathroom doorway. “Wha’s going on?”

“Hey, Bill,” James said quietly, twitching his little finger in minute wave, the only one he dared release from their death grip on the toilet bowl.

“Dad’s been sick - could you grab him a glass of water?” Mindy asked, voice cracking from sleep. Billy nodded, pushing his hair out of his eyes and giving his mother a sleepy thumbs-up as he shuffled off toward the kitchen.

“He needs a haircut,” Mindy voiced absently to the bathroom as she ran her hand up and down James’ back. She waited patiently for James to speak when a couple of fingers wiggled at her from around the edge of the basin.

“He-” James said, another little burp slipping out, “-said yesterday he’s growing it out. Like mine was.”

“Still needs to keep it trimmed to keep it healthy,” Mindy murmured with a shrug. “Why did you cut yours again?” James just gave a half-hearted shrug beneath her hand.

“Why-” James cut himself off, retching violently into the toilet. “-Not,” he finished after a long round of laboured breaths.

“Here, Dad,” Billy said gently, offering James the glass of water as he padded back into the bathroom.

“Sip it, don’t rush it,” Mindy added, as James pulled himself tentatively from the toilet. Still shivering, the Trickster eased himself down, pulling his numb legs round with a wince as he sat cross legged beside the toilet, facing Mindy. 

“Thank you, Billy,” James breathed, taking the glass with both hands and raising it to his lips. 

“Feel any better now?” Mindy asked. James gave another little shrug. He was pale, loose blond curls sticking to his forehead and the back of his neck as he cradled the glass in his hands.

“What happened, Dad?” Billy asked quietly. James laughed suddenly, lighting up like a fairground ride.

“Nothing, nothing,” he smiled, like this was all just so silly of him, “bad dream got the jump on me, that’s all.”

“Bad dream? What happened?” Billy asked sympathetically.

“It’s quite funny, really,” James continued, and Mindy could see how his eyes slipped from focusing on her to staring through her, “it was like Star Wars.”

Billy looked surprised. “What, ‘cause we watched ‘Return of the Jedi’ last night?” James shrugged.

“Maybe.”

“What’s wrong with ‘Return of the Jedi’?” Mindy scoffed. “It's not that bad; it’s not like it’s the Christmas Special.” Her mouth twitched into a little smile when this pulled James’ attention back to her along with a genuine giggle. 

“The Star Wars Christmas Special is a national treasure, Mindy, what are you talking about,” he grinned, sipping his water as his wife gave him a highly skeptical look. The smile faded as he closed his eyes and sighed, pressing the cold glass against his clammy cheek and then against his forehead, shaking his head. “No, I, uh,” he said. “It was just the uh-” he stretched out his hand and held it palm up, wiggling his fingers “-Sarlac pit scene. I was there, in the dream, and-” He cut himself off with another little shake of the head and a swallow, the subtle tremor in his hand returning as he took a shaky sip of water. 

“Felt like it was me. The fall ‘n then-” he broke off, his face twisting “-teeth.” The Trickster leant against the toilet, closing his eyes and exhaling deeply. Mindy nodded, reaching over and rubbing her thumb over the soft striped fleece of James’ pyjama trousers as she patted his knee.

“Just felt like it was me somehow,” James murmured, his words slurring together through another little burp. “Stood over it. It was too real, and too fam-f-familiar,” James hiccuped, face twisting as he shook his head like a scared child. 

Mindy glanced worriedly over her shoulder at Billy hovering just behind her. He caught her eye and grimaced before mouthing _‘Like with Neron’_ silently at his mother. She nodded, turning back to her husband and giving his knee another little squeeze. There was quiet for moment as James moved the cold glass around his clammy face, pressing it against his forehead. Everything had settled to a point that Mindy nearly dropped the glass when it was shoved unexpectedly into her hands as James threw himself over the bowl of the toilet and retched violently. 

“Oh, baby,” Mindy cooed sadly, setting the glass down beside the toilet and getting to her feet. “You’ll feel better once you’ve got it all up.” She snatched a flannel off the edge of the bath and ran it under the cold tap, wringing it out. 

Billy was stood awkwardly by the bathroom door, chewing his lip as he shifted from foot to foot. “Should I-?” he asked his mother, stopping when a hand was waved up at him. Billy padded forward, catching his dad’s hand in his and smiling sadly as James squeezed it tightly in his as he panted into the toilet, his breathing a strained, slow stream only broken by the choked little whimpers tumbling unbidden from his lips.

“You okay, Dad?” Billy asked softly, giving James’ hand a little squeeze. James sniffed into the toilet and, after a cautious moment, nodded. 

Slowly, the Trickster raised his head and looked to his wife, sat waiting patiently for him to surface with a clean washcloth in her hand ready for him. Billy let his father’s hand slip from his as James sluggishly reached for Mindy and let himself be pulled into her arms. 

“Sh, sh, it’s okay, you’re alright,” Mindy murmured as James buried his face in her neck and began to shake. She wrapped her arms around his bare torso and slid her fingers into his messy hair, hushing him gently as she ran her fingers over his head. “You’re safe, it was just a bad dream, you’re safe, Jamie, I promise,” she whispered in his ear, kissing his temple as she felt something warm and wet dripping down her collar. Resting her cheek against James’ head, she smiled at Billy. “Bill, could you go get your dad a shirt or something?” 

When Billy had nipped out, she kissed James’ temple again and squeezed him tight in her arms. “Just a bad dream, James. Just a bad dream, I promise. We’ll just have to put off watching ‘Return of the Jedi’ for a while, that’s all,” she teased quietly. James made a vague noise of assent before pulling away from her, sniffing and nodding.

“Yeah,” he agreed, sore, red eyes raised to the ceiling as he sniffed and took a deep breath, wiping the wet streaks from his burning cheeks. “Shame really, it’s the best one.”

“No way,” countered Mindy, scrubbing a hand quickly at her wet neck. “‘The Empire Strikes Back’ is the best.” 

“Boo, everyone says that,” James groaned at the ceiling, blinking rapidly. 

“Maybe because it’s true?” Mindy challenged. “C’mon, the Ewoks aren’t _that_ great.” A scandalised gasp was ripped from James.

“How dare you, madam,” James said, shaking his head as Mindy sniggerd to herself. She reached out a hand and James closed his eyes as she stroked her thumb under his eye, smoothing away a smeared mess of tears. The Trickster opened his eyes a sliver and leant into her touch, nudging a kiss to Mindy’s palm.

“Thank you,” James murmured against her palm. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Mindy whispered back. James nuzzled his nose against her palm, giving it another kiss before sighing.

“It just felt like I was Luke stood over the Sarlac pit,” he laughed breathlessly, rubbing his good eye with his palm. “It felt so real.”

“Well,” Mindy mused as she handed James the wash cloth which he took gratefully, wasting no time in scrubbing at his sweaty face, “unless you wake up one day as Mark Hamill in a galaxy far, far away, I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

“Yeah, because then I’d’ve kissed my sister,” James muttered. 

“They didn’t know!” Mindy said, spreading her hands wide. “No one knew!”

“Still gross!”

“I know, but c’mon, ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ is-!”

“Not as good as ‘Return of the Jedi’!” James finished for her with an indignant noise. 

“Billy!” Mindy shouted in exasperation. “Billy, get in here!” Billy’s head popped around the doorframe, a colourful jumper in hand.

“Yes?”

“What’s the best Star Wars movie?” James asked smugly.

“Uhhhhhh,” Billy hummed loudly, “‘The Phantom Menace’?”

He ducked just in time to miss the wash cloth that was thrown at him.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be a more serious and sad fic but being me I decided to finish it on a lighter, happier note.
> 
> (Billy truly is his father's son.)


End file.
